Time Heals
by WeasleyObsession
Summary: A month after the snake attack, the kids are back at school, Arthur is still recovering, and Molly hasn't been doing as well as she's let on. Arthur and Molly comfort one another and help each other cope. Including a special appearance from Remus.


**Time Heals**

Ever since he got out of the hospital and stopped taking potions, Arthur could not sleep. Occasionally, he could catch a brief nap in the middle of the day before waking a few minutes later due to the other inhabitants of Grimmauld Place.

However, at night, it was so quiet one could hear a Doxy flutter its wings three floors away. There should be no issues falling asleep as he lay in bed with Molly. Sometimes, the pain he was still in kept him awake or caused him to have a fitful night's sleep if he did manage to doze off.

But then there were the nightmares where he was forced to relive that horrible night in the Department of Mysteries. Unlike the pain, these nightmares would wake him up _every_ time he fell asleep. At St. Mungo's, Arthur did not have to endure these due to the potions Healer Smethwyck had him on. Now, there was no way of avoiding them.

It was not only these things that caused his lack of sleep, though. Up until the past few nights, Molly had problems going to sleep, especially if her husband was not at her side. Ever since the attack, she had been in a right state. Arthur never saw her distressed until he was discharged. Apparently, she hid her worries whenever she visited him at the hospital, but when he was back at Grimmauld Place, she couldn't keep it hidden.

Tonight, his wife had finally fallen asleep at half past midnight. He lay there another hour, ensuring she was in a deep sleep, before he got out of bed. Not bothering to put on a shirt, Arthur pulled on his pajama bottoms and threadbare house robe which he tied loosely. The month-old scars peaked out from underneath, standing out vividly against his pale chest. Oddly enough, he had become quite self-conscious about them; he had never been self-conscious about anything in his whole life. At this late hour though, he needn't worry about that. Silently shutting the door behind him, he made his way down to the kitchen.

Much to his dismay, someone else was awake and sipping tea at the old, wooden table. Arthur had to blame himself. He knew that one of the guarding shifts ended at one in the morning. In fact, that was the shift he had been on when he was attacked. He had been so close to being able to go home to Molly, but the snake clearly had other plans.

"Arthur, you should be in bed. You need your rest after everything that's happened. Besides, don't you start work back in the morning?" the other man said as Arthur fixed his own cup of tea.

Taking a seat across from the other occupant, Arthur stated, "No, Remus. Look, I'm tired of everyone watching me - telling me to take it easy…afraid I'm going to break," he finished bitterly. That was what the Order and his family did. The healers had cleared him to go home and he felt he could handle going back to daily life. He didn't need anyone watching his every move. He was a grown man, for Merlin's sake! He could take care of himself.

Remus studied the older man closely for a long moment before asking, "Are you?"

A beat passed before Arthur looked Remus in the eye and quietly answered. "I hurt...The pain never goes away."

"The scars?"

Arthur shifted his gaze to the mug in his hands. Right now, he was being completely vulnerable. He had no idea why. It was as if he couldn't control the words that came out of his mouth. "Everything. My chest. My heart. My veins even feel like the venom is still running through them."

"Your healer said the venom is long gone, and I'm sure he can give you some pain potions if you tell him," Remus advised.

Arthur looked back at the werewolf and wearily said, "I'm sick of potions. I was on them for two weeks at the hospital and then the week after." He took a sip of his tea. "Besides, I need to keep my wits about me, especially if something happens and the Order needs me -"

"Arthur," Remus interrupted, "no one expects anything from you right now. You're not going to guard or go on any missions until you've fully recovered."

"I'm beginning to think that'll never happen," the redhead mumbled as he rested his elbows on the table and ran a hand through his hair.

"If you ever need anything, we're all friends – No," Remus stopped short. "We are all _family_ here," he corrected himself. "If you need anything, we are all right there with you. And then there's Molly. You know she'll -"

"No." It was Arthur's turn to interrupt. He knew the Order was family. He knew that any of them would be there if he needed something. It was his wife he was protesting about. "It's taken two weeks and she's just now able to sleep without me by her side. If I tell her I'm still in pain, we will be back at square one. All of this stays between the two of us, understand?"

Hesitantly, Remus nodded his agreement and repeated, "Well, if you do need anything..." while standing. He patted Arthur's shoulder as he passed him to exit the kitchen, lips pressed in a thin line.

Remus had a point. Molly would do anything for him. Any of them would. The difference was that Molly was…too caring? Could someone be too caring? Better that than not caring enough, Arthur supposed. The thing with Molly was that she would get so upset. There was always a good reason for it, but Arthur absolutely loathed it when she was upset, especially when it was because of him and he couldn't do a damn thing about it. She deserved to be happy and not to worry.

The door suddenly swung open, bringing Arthur out of his thoughts. He stood, wincing from the pain caused by the sudden movement, as he saw the panicked state his wife was in.

Tears stained her cheeks as she took deep breaths in an effort to calm down. Instinctively, Arthur snuggly wrapped his arms around her. He knew exactly what was wrong and how to fix it.

As he held her, Arthur could only make out a few mumbled words. "Woke up – gone – terrified - Remus - stairs - thought I lost you again." A pang of guilt hit him as her rambling only confirmed what he figured was wrong. He had fully intended to be back in bed before she woke up so this wouldn't happen. After the past few nights, he thought he would be able to sneak out of bed for a few minutes. If he knew Molly would get this upset, he wouldn't have left the room.

Arthur rested his chin on his wife's head as he continued to hold her tightly, ignoring the protests from his aching body. It was a long time before she had calmed down and was ready to let go. He always loved holding his wife, and he still did, but Arthur couldn't help but be thankful when she stepped away from him. Molly grabbed his hand while he sat down, grunting as he did so. Sometimes, the smallest things took too much effort nowadays.

"What are you doing down here?" Molly asked shakily, still clutching her husband's hand, seemingly afraid that if she let go he would disappear.

"Couldn't sleep," he simply answered.

"The pain or the nightmares?" she deadpanned.

Arthur wasn't surprised she knew about the nightmares. She woke up with him every time he had them, after all. The fact she knew about the pain, on the other hand, caught him off guard. He thought he was doing a good job at hiding it. He knew Remus wouldn't betray his trust, so Molly had to have figured it out on her own. "Yeah," Arthur sighed, acknowledging that it was due to both of those reasons.

"Are you in pain now?" she asked as she took the seat next to him.

There was no omitting the truth like he had been. This time, she came straight out and asked him. Arthur nodded before leaning over and resting his head on his free hand, his eyes tightly shut. He blew out a long breath as a wave of pain overcame him and disappeared just as quickly.

Molly rubbed her husband's back soothingly, still not releasing her grasp on his hand. He didn't have to see the expression on her face to know how much this hurt her. Ever since he first met her, she had been extremely empathetic. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid.

"Perhaps you ought to go back to the healer, Love," she suggested. "And you don't need to go back to work just yet."

Arthur let out a sigh as he straightened up. "Molly, I have no more sick leave and the vacation days I have aren't paid. We will have no income."

"The boys are doing well. They would be more than happy to -"

"No," Arthur interrupted. He knew exactly where she was headed. "Our sons are not going to support us because I can't. They work hard for that money. We sure as hell are not going to take any of it from them."

"Well, with it being just the two of us here now, I'm sure no one would mind if we couldn't chip in for a while."

"No, Molly," Arthur sighed, rubbing his face.

Molly ran her fingers through his hair before cupping his cheek. Their eyes met. "Arthur, you nearly died," she whispered, eyebrows furrowed. "It's going to take time - a lot of time - for you to heal. If you push yourself too hard, it will only make things worse. Everyone understands that, except you."

Arthur kissed her palm. "Okay," he mumbled into her hand. He held her hand in his and ran his thumb over hers. Looking back at her, he softly asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"Go to the healer, and be completely honest with him," Molly said. "Wait a while longer before going back to work." She let go of his hands as she stood. She ran her hands through his hair then rested them on the back of his neck Arthur wrapped his arms around her waist. He looked up at her. She gave him a small, reassuring smile. "I want you to rest and get better."

"Then that's what I'll do," he quietly conceded. He pulled her closer and buried his face in the front of the button-up shirt she recently stole from him. Apparently, she was in such a panic she forgot to put on her house robe before looking for him.

She lovingly ruffled his hair. "Why don't we go back to bed?" she suggested.

Arthur leaned back and nodded before letting her take his hand and lead him upstairs.

Before they crawled into bed, Molly convinced him to take one of his left over Sleeping Draughts. He kissed her softly before he nuzzled the back of her neck and hugged her close. She held onto his arm tightly, their fingers intertwined. Their legs became entangled with each other's.

"I love you, Mollywobbles," he mumbled sleepily as the draught took effect.

**A/N: Okay, so this fic was inspired by the end of NCIS S13 E1, "Stop the Bleeding." All I used from it was a couple lines of dialogue between Arthur and Remus. It's been sitting in my computer for two years now, so I thought it was about time to get it finished and posted.**

**I hope y'all enjoyed this look into life for the older Weasley couple after the snake attack.**

**Please leave a review!**


End file.
